White Houses
by DevynRaye
Summary: Cindy changes and loses touch with her old friends, but she doesn't realize what that has done to everyone else.
1. Changed

**A/N: So this fanfic was inspired by Vanessa Carlton's 'White Houses'; just shows what can happen to even the best of friends.**

White Houses

Ch.1

"So what's up with his smile? I never understood why he would need to cover his face when he smiled. His teeth look fine; they're not perfectly straight but they're not horrible. He's like an insecure little girl I'm so glad you broke up with him Cin." The tall brunette girl said.

"Ashley, I didn't break up with Brian because he couldn't smile, I did it because I didn't feel anything with him. Cindy defended.

"Well not everyone can be a Jimmy, but I never did see what you saw in him." Brittany said without really thinking.

"I told you! I NEVER liked that loser! Okay so drop it!" Cindy almost screamed throughout the halls.

"Okay, okay, chill! Sorry…" Cindy flipped her hair back and continued walking. "But you know it's true." Brittany whispered to Ashley, Cindy heard this and looked back angrily at the pair but kept her stride and ran into someone.

"Hey watch where you're-!" Cindy stopped and looked at her opponent, Libby stood there furrowing her brow in anger as she picked up her book and Cindy did the same. Libby walked away without looking back while Cindy stood staring back in anger.

"What a jerk! Cindy, wasn't that your best friend?" Ashley asked.

"Not anymore," Cindy paused to see Libby turn the corner, "She's changed." She stated and continued walking.

"Yeah, now she only hangs out with like those loser boys." Brittany stated, and then covered her mouth when she realized what she said.

"Didn't Cindy used to hang out with those loser boys?" Ashley asked getting a glare from Brittany. To both their relief Cindy didn't further their conversation.

"I'm going to go to Ms. Gallagher's office now; I got to grade some papers." Cindy said trying to forget about her friends and move on.

"Are you serious Cin? Being a teacher's assistant is so lame," Ashley began and then was pulled away by Brittany.

"'Kay Cindy see you tomorrow." Brittany said and continued dragging Ashley in the opposite direction of Cindy.

Cindy sighed as she got to the teachers room and saw the towering pile of journals, "This is going to be fun." Her words dripping with sarcasm. All she had to do was check everyone's journals to see if they've written at least one entry a week and she was not allowed to read them.

**A/N: I'm sorry if this is boring but I promise it will get better, I hope. Anyways please review, I'm a new writer so I need critics.**


	2. Sheen

**A/N: Bold = journal; italicized = flashback.**

White Houses

Ch. 2

Over an hour later she had about one third of the way done and her eyelids were already durping. Cindy sighed and took a sip of the Purple Flurp she got out of the vending machine. She grabbed the next journal and noticed a familiar name, Sheen. She sighed again expected to see the word "Ultralord" on every page, and she was correct.

**January 6- Yesterday I got the new Ultralord video game!**

**January 20- On Tuesday my dad got me the new Ultralord action figure! It's got…**

**Febuary 2- Ultralord…**

**Febuary 14- Libby and I went on our first real date and…**

Cindy had to stop herself from reading anymore.

**…Ultralord…**

Cindy reluctantly laughed at his dorky-ness and continued doing her job.

**…Ultralord…**

**…Cindy…**

Cindy was shocked to see him mention her name, but he was probably nothing.

**…Cindy…**

**…Cindy…**

Now Cindy was curious as to why her name was mentioned so much.

**…it's all Cindy's fault…**

"Whoa… What?" Cindy went back to the first place she saw her name; she knew it was against the rules to read the entries but she had to see what Sheen was blaming her for.

**March 30- Libby and I aren't really hanging out anymore, at first I thought it was because she was out with Cindy doing girly stuff. But Cindy and Libby aren't even together most of the time! I'm really worried for my queen! Also the new episode of Ultralord…**

**April 22- Today I woke up from a coma. Not my first time, Jimmy puts me in a lot cause of some of his inventions but this one was caused by my Chicky-baby!**

Cindy remembered that.

_Libby was pulling Cindy's hair; Cindy clenched at the pain but spun around to elbow Libby in the face and got her good in the eye. Sheen came through the crowd and put himself between the two girls. Libby was covering her left eye which was throbbing in pain; her right eye was blurry from the pain and didn't see Sheen coming. She threw a punch at Cindy which landed directly on Sheen's face and knocked him to the ground._

**I don't remember much but I do know this, Cindy is to blame, she's the one who started the fight! And the worst part is Libby didn't even check on my in the hospital!**

**April 25- Libby not talking to me! How could this happen! I tried talking to her after the hospital and she TOTALLY IGNORED ME! WHY! Carl says she's probably ashamed, and Jimmy barely ever speaks to us! He's always in his lab now! It's all Cindy's fault!**

Cindy felt mad now, 'How dare he blame this on me! Libby's the one who put her nose in something she had no business being in!' She thought angrily. 'I wonder what Libby thinks of our fight?' Then she searched the journals for Libby's.

**A/N: What? Libby and Cindy had a fight? Libby hit Sheen? What happened? Tune in next time!**


	3. Libby

**A/N: Well I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! You'll see why when you get to the flashback. And just in case you forgot: Bold = Journal, Italicized = Flashback.**

White Houses

Ch. 3

Cindy finds Libby's journal near the bottom of the pile of books, as she grabs it all of the notebooks on top of it ends up plummeting to the ground. With the mess of books on the ground, Cindy skims though Libby's journal for anything relevant.

**Feb 13- Today Cindy finally admitted to me that she likes Jimmy! The fun part was acting shocked, like I didn't know…**

'Wait what! She knew this whole time!' Cindy thought to herself but shook it off, she skipped a couple pages.

**March 20- Today was the sixth grade fundraiser, me, Cindy and Brittany signed up to do the car wash. It was fun except for the part where I got stuck as the CFO and had to be the one to handle money. Yeah, Cindy and Brittany got to splash around in the water washing cars while I counted money, the worst part was when Brittany decided her and Cindy should just completely slack off and not wash any cars! They practically stopped doing any work, it took forever for all the cars to get washed and we got less money than we should have. I tried to tell them, I had to yell at them to get them to continue working, and then they got mad at me. Seriously! I'm the one who is actually doing what I'm supposed to then they go and get all mad at me. I just rolled it off like I usually do, sometimes I wish I didn't do that, I'm really starting to get annoyed.**

Cindy vaguely remembered that day, it was when she and Brittany really started to become good friends, and she did remember how bossy Libby was being. She was just messing around with Brittany, 'It was totally harmless, then Libby had to go and ruin our fun.' She told herself.

**March 27- Alright as if last week wasn't bad enough get this, Cindy picked Brittany as a project partner first! I was about to come and ask her to be partners then she goes and asked Brittany. She says that was just because that we're always partners and it would be nice to work with someone else for a change, which I guess I don't mind, Betty's not so bad. I'm not really complaining that she didn't chose me as a partner, because it is true that we're always partners, I'm just complaining that she always does everything with Brittany now. She never has time to hang with me anymore; it's like whenever I ask it's always, "I'm going over to Brittany's to work on the project." I mean I know she's not the brightest girl but come on, Brittany can do her own part, you don't have to babysit her.**

Cindy was starting to see why Libby was so upset, but she ignored her feeling s, "Heh, look who's getting jealous."

**March 31- Okay now I'm mad! I haven't hung out with my best friend in over a week, so I finally convinced Cindy to hang out tonight. I sold my one ticket to the Boys Pretending to be Men concert because it was the only day Cindy was free to hang and sleepover and I knew I was going to their next concert. So I get everything set up; I rented a movie, got some popcorn and I even blew up a bed for her to sleep on because I know how much she hates the ground. And you know what, the electric pump was broken so I had to use the hand pump; it took me half an hour to get the bed as firm as Cindy likes. So I did all that only for my so called best friend to bail on me because Nick and others invited her to go to the, get this, Boys Pretending to be Men concert! She said she was sorry, she said that Nick bought the ticket just for her. Then I did something stupid, I forgave her! You know what, I'm not doing that anymore! Next time she ends up ditching she'll definitely be sorry! And you want to know the most ironic thing about this, the person who bought my ticket's username was FunKmasterNikYniCk.**

Her heart feeling a bit heavy, Cindy couldn't help but feel sorry. She had no idea how much she was neglecting Libby; she didn't know what Libby did for her the night she didn't show up. She skipped the pages until she got their big fight.

**April 19- Up until now I would sometimes hang with Cindy during school, up until now I would forget how much she's neglected me, up until now I would ignore the fact that she's been hurting Jimmy. But not anymore, she's crossed the line now! We got into a little spat in which SHE started the violence and she gets one tiny day of suspension; I'm now suspended for five days, gave my boyfriend who I might just love a coma and got kicked out of the student council because of that bitch!**

"What!" Cindy accidentally shouted out loud, "How dare she call me a bitch! She's the one who-" Cindy stopped herself when she realized she was still shouting out loud. 'She's the one who started the fight! I mean sure I threw the first punch but she came up to me first.' She continued in her head.

"_Kiss him! Kiss him! Kiss him!" The cafeteria crowd shouted, they were somewhat circling Cindy and a kid named Jake. One kid saw him flirting with her and just to make it interesting he started the chant._

_Cindy turned to Brittany who was gesturing for her to do it. Then Cindy put on a nervous smile for the influential crowd, faced Jake and closed her eyes. At first she didn't exactly know what was going to happen then she felt a cold pair of lips touch hers and heard a lot of cheering._

"_What the hell!" A familiar voice shouted after a few seconds. Cindy broke away from Jake and looked over at Libby who was standing with her hands on her hips looking particularly livid. "Cindy! What's with you, girl?" She began shouting but calmed down at the second sentence._

"_I'm kissing a boy, what am I not allowed?" Cindy retorted._

"_Not like this! This isn't like you, giving into pressure, kissing someone you just met?"_

"_This isn't even any of your business! Do you really want to ruin our friendship?" Cindy said raising her voice a bit too high._

"_What friendship?" Libby replied raising her voice to match Cindy's. "For the past few week we've barely even talked, it's like you don't even want to be my friend anymore, Miss. Popular!" Cindy balled up her fists. "You don't even care for any of us anymore, your so caught up in your fantasy land that you-"_

_Cindy couldn't take it anymore she cut off Libby's lecture with a right hook to the jaw. After the punch Libby felt her face for the pain but ignored it and got a fierce look in her eyes. She gave Cindy a right cross to the face, which Cindy blocked due to her years of Tai Chi. However Libby didn't give up, she tried a left jab, but Cindy blocked and countered with a palm to the face. Libby continued firing punches in which Cindy would just block and counter. She mangled Libby up pretty bad, until one of Libby uppercuts to the stomach finally got to Cindy and knocked the wind out of her. Libby smiled despite her swollen lip and took Cindy's crouched posture as an opportunity to pull her hair back until Cindy had no choice but to turn and face the wall, then Libby smashed Cindy's face into the wall over and over again. Cindy just clenched at the pain then once she thought that she had enough Cindy turned and elbowed Libby right in her left eye, smiling as she saw Libby grip her eye in pain. She could see Libby about to return the favor but then suddenly Sheen got in the way._

**And Sheen… poor Sheen… I knocked him out! The doctor said I put him in a coma! I can't, I can't ever look let alone speak to him again after what I did! The doctor said he'll be up in a week, knowing him he'll be up in a couple days but still… And I don't even want to go into how heartbroken Jimmy is after seeing Cindy's make-out session.**

'Jimmy!' She didn't know Jimmy saw her kiss, what did she mean heartbroken? Cindy mindlessly searched for Jimmy's journal in the mesh on the ground while thinking how much she hurt her best friend.

**A/N: Please review; I have no Idea what I'm doing if I don't get any feedback.**


	4. Jimmy

White Houses

Ch. 4

After searching on her hands and knees Cindy finally found what she was looking for; Jimmy's journal was discovered at the bottom of the giant pile. She was so eager to start reading that she didn't get back on the seat; she just sat on her knees and read.

**January 5- Today was the first day of the second semester of high school, talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally, I don't know how it happened but I woke up with my feet on my pillow, if you think that's amusing I'm not even going to discuss how my dad woke me up. Anyway, so I got ready, skipped breakfast, yet I still managed to miss the bus, go figure. On the contrary to my horrible beginning, thinks started to get brighter; my rival Cindy Vortex also missed the bus. Ha, looks like I'm not the only one who slept in. She looked a little desperate; I could've laughed in her face and rode to school on my jetpack leaving her in the dust! However something stopped me, don't ask me sometimes, though I'd never admit it, I can't figure out my own brain. So out of the pureness of my heart I pick Cindy up and flew to school with her in my arms. She looked so peaceful, she smiled so brightly once we were soaring though the air, her hair smelled of lavender and… I… I mean she was heavy and made it difficult to steer! Yeah, that's… that's what I meant.**

"Oh Jimmy for a genius you're such an idiot!" She said to no one in particular.

**January 15- Ughhh! I can't believe Cindy was actually right! Who new Bigfoot was actually real!**

Cindy felt proud of herself as she remembered that day, she and Jimmy were arguing again.

"_Vortex! I'm telling you he's an urban legend! It's just a myth for tourists!" Jimmy yelled._

"_And I'm telling you Mr. Science, That Bigfoot really is real!" Cindy retorted as the two scowled at each other, their faces two inches apart. Cindy was amazed she was able to keep up her anger while staring into his pretty blue eyes. She was about to lose concentration when thankfully Sheen interrupted._

"_To the hovercar!" He shouted thrilled for their next great adventure. So the group rode to the nearest Bigfoot sighting, Jimmy set up his high-tech traps that would catch it, even though he didn't believe. Soon enough they had the harry beast in their clutches. It turns out, the big guy wasn't so menacing after all, and he was endangered. So Carl thought it would be best if they put him in a wild life preserve center near the area. Jimmy was extremely grumpy on the way back because he was wrong._

**So what, that was just a lucky guess. Of course it was my genius that actually captured the creature. I don't feel like talking about this subject anymore, but I know this has to be half a page long so here are some algorithms…**

Cindy rolled her eyes at his ego.

**January 28- Hah! Once again I have beaten my rival! Cindy thought the Louche Ness monster was a fake, but I knew that Nessie was real, so we headed out to Northern Scotland and soon enough I had my proof. Cindy loses yet again. And here are more algorithms…**

Cindy furrowed her eyebrows at this memory, she lost to Neutron again. She didn't feel like reliving it in a flashback, but it was the same as last time only Jimmy was right. Jimmy and Cindy argued, Sheen said adventure, Jimmy captured beast and Carl suggest they make Scotland protect the endangered creature. Cindy moved on a few pages in the notebooks, skipping the ones he wrote about his inventions.

**February 14- Today was the day that guys everywhere fear most of all, Valentine's Day! What's worse is my art teacher made us make paper hearts and give it to someone. She said if she saw any in the trash she'd give the person who made it and the person it's for a zero for the project, so I knew I couldn't just throw it out. I was planning on giving it to my mom but Carl… um, never mind… So I wrote down the next girl on my mind, and to my amazement my hand didn't write down the name Betty Quinlan, it wrote Cindy Vortex.**

Cindy's heart skipped a beat, as she remembered the day he gave her the heart, she felt so bad because she wrote Nick as her Valentine. She thought Jimmy hated her and she figured Nick got so many, one more wouldn't kill him.

**Then something wonderful happened! I mean disgusting! I mean… you know what this is my journal no one is going to read it and I say it was wonderful! Cindy Vortex kissed me! She actually kissed me! I felt my lips tingle when hers touched mine, my palms got really sweaty, my stomach got all tight and I felt really dizzy afterwards. I don't know what's happening to me, but I think I like it!**

Cindy blushed as she remembered when she kissed him, it was so quick and sudden but she still liked it more than she'd admit. The fact the she knew he liked it too gave her a warm feeling.

**February 26- I screwed up again today; me, Carl and Sheen went to Retroland, and everything was supposed to be all good I even brought my shrink ray so that I could reverse the polarity making myself slightly taller, just enough so that I could ride all the rides. Then the unthinkable happened, I ran into Cindy and Libby, literally ran into them. I bumped into Cindy, which forced me to press a button on my shrink ray and I accidentally shrunk Carl. It took the four of us all day to find him so I could bring him to normal size.**

Cindy laughed at this memory, despite the circumstances and the amount of arguing she had with Jimmy, she had a lot of fun that day. Suddenly she got this awful feeling in her stomach, she didn't know if it was guilt, emptiness, or just cramps, but it made her feel really sad.

**March 25- Today, I went to Venus, it was supposed to be a joyful trip, I asked Cindy and Libby to go but Cindy said she had to work on a project with Brittany. Libby came with us, her and Sheen walked alone for a while on the planet, they seemed really happy. I stayed with Carl, he's good company but I had this empty feeling with me the entire time. I can't help but think Cindy has something to do with it. I don't understand what it is about her; I can't stand her when I'm around her, but when I'm not with her… I feel like I need her. Lately my life has revolved around her and for once I'm utterly confused.**

The feeling inside Cindy's stomach transformed into an even greater hurt, why didn't she go to Venus? When did she have to stop her wonderful adventures with her boy genius? Cindy sat feeling like this for a few minutes, she couldn't stand feeling like this so she tried to turn her sadness to rage, 'Well it's his fault! Why couldn't he just tell me how he felt!' She told herself; however it didn't work, the feeling came back, she knew Jimmy wasn't to blame.

**April 19- Today I had my heart shredded into a million pieces by the girl who I thought I hated. I don't understand how one simple action could make me this miserable. It was only one kiss, why should I care? She was my enemy, why should I care if she doesn't want to hang out with me anymore? She hated me, why should I care what she does? She tortured me, why should I care what happens to her? Why do I care? I'll tell you why! I'm in love with Cindy Vortex.**

**I'm in love with Cindy Vortex.**

**I'm in love with Cindy Vortex.**

**I'm in love with Cindy Vortex.**

The words repeated in Cindy's head until she felt dizzy, her eyes widened as tears began to stream out. She would try to wipe them away but no matter how much she tried new tears would just come and replace them. These six words shattered all her thoughts, she sat there on the ground clutching Jimmy's journal close to her. She didn't know how long she there crying but by the time the tears stopped Jimmy's book was soaked in the river of tears.

Cindy quietly closed the book, wiped away any tears that were stuck to her face and got up off the dirty floor. She stood there for a while not thinking of anything, then she saw Carl's journal sitting on top of whatever was left of the neat pile of journals. Curious as to what Jimmy's best friend had to say she opened the llama boy's journal and began reading.

**A/N: That was actually really hard to write considering I have absolutely no experience with love, but I hoped you enjoyed it anyways. And don't worry Carl's chapter will be better than you're probably thinking; I did it in this order on purpose. Please review, it makes me happy.**


	5. Carl

**A/N: Okay I don't know why but a bunch of my reviews for this story got deleted, I didn't delete them and I have no idea how to bring them back so I'm sorry if yours got deleted. Now read the story…**

White Houses

Ch. 5

…**Today llama boy…**

… **For my birthday my parents got me a llama t-shirt…**

…**Jimmy made me really small and I was at Retroland so all the giant people were so scary…**

…**llamapalloza…**

Cindy was just about to give up on reading Carl's entries when she finally found something interesting.

**March 30- This has been an awkward week, usually Cindy and Libby would sit with us at lunch. It's mostly to make fun of us, but I think they also come because we are actually good friends. But now they rarely ever sit with us at lunch anymore, I would be okay with it if it didn't make Jimmy and Sheen so sad. You see, they'd never admit it but I found out things over the past few years, even though he says we don't like girls yet I think Jimmy likes Cindy. I don't really know that for sure but I'm positive Sheen likes Libby, he practically kisses her feet! I've always been the fifth wheel, and I'm just now realizing it.**

**April 2- Man I have never had such a boring week in my life! Ever since Venus Jimmy hardly takes us on adventures anymore! He does come over to play; he just stays in his lab all day. Sheen comes over sometimes but without Jimmy there's not really much we can do. He won't even let us into the lab anymore, he says it's because me and Sheen touch his stuff too much and create destruction. But we always used to do that, I think there's another reason.**

**April 20- Last night I when to Jimmy's house to see Judy- I mean Jimmy! Anyways when I got to his room I saw that Jimmy was crying. He told me it was because he was upset about Sheen being in a coma. I told him that it was Sheen, the kid who grew immune to electricity; he'd probably be back to normal in a couple of days. Jimmy told me thanks and that I made him feel better and made me leave. But I don't think I made him feel better at all, he looked just as sad as when I came in. I heard a lot of rumors of how Sheen got hit; I know it was Libby who hit him. Some people were saying she got annoyed with his Ultralord obsession and hit him. But I know that's not true, Libby wouldn't do that. I also heard a rumor that Libby accidentally hit Sheen, that seems more likely, but it was in a fight with Cindy! They are best friends why would they fight? I heard that Cindy kissed the boy Libby liked so she started the fight with her, but I don't think so their friendship was too big to be fought over a boy. I think Libby was mad at Cindy because she's changed, I also think Jimmy was crying over Cindy. Wow, I've written a lot today, my hand is cramping, ouch.**

**May 2- Okay I've had enough! Nothing is the way it should be anymore! I feel like have lost all of my friends and my friends have lost each other. Libby and Cindy hate each other; Cindy is with her new friends in the popular crowd, she's not as into her schoolwork or grades anymore and she always been mean but now it's like a different kind of mean, it's crueler. Libby won't talk to anyone! All she ever does now is her school work; she doesn't even care about the way she looks anymore! Today she was wearing a big shirt and baggy khakis, this isn't Libby. Jimmy won't talk to me or Sheen anymore, and barely to anyone else, he doesn't pay attention in class, though he still gets good grades, and he's always in his lab. Sheen hangs out with me but there's nothing to talk about he's been so depressed lately and doesn't carry around his Ultralord doll anymore, he doesn't even yell at me when I call it a doll! Me, I think Sheen's depression and lack of interest in his obsessions is rubbing off on me. I no longer get the same feeling as I used to when I think of llamas, or Jimmy's mom. I got the true story from Libby about the fight a couple days ago and I've thought about this a lot lately and I've come up with a conclusion: Cindy. I know for a fact that Libby and Cindy's fight started when Cindy kissed a random guy out of peer pressure, Libby tried to talk her out of it, Cindy hit her started the fist fight and ruined their friendship. Libby hit Sheen on accident making Libby hate herself and not allowing her to go near Sheen because it hurt too much, and Sheen became depressed because she wouldn't go near him. Jimmy saw Cindy kiss the boy and he became depressed, I knew he liked her but I didn't know it would affect him this much. I feel like the innocent bystander in this whole thing, I figured out everything, I was able to figure out Cindy is to blame for this whole mess! The sad part is that there's nothing I can do about it.**

'No, but there's something I can do.' Cindy thought. She was filled with a strange mix of emotions: Sadness, loss, love, heartbreak, guilt, self-pity, and now a sense of determination. She started this whole mess; it was all her fault, now she had to fix it but how?

Cindy gave up on grading the journals; she gave everyone and 'A', picked up the journals from the ground and headed home.

Once she was at home Cindy sat on her bed and took out her phone. She called Libby, Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl, respectively. As she expected nobody answered, she paced around the room thinking of solutions to her problem.

Cindy sighed and rested her head on her desk, she couldn't think of anything. She tilted her head up a bit and looked at the flier her head was resting on: ELMER MIDDLE SIXTH GRADE TALENT SHOW. Just then a familiar song came into her head, and so did a light bulb.

She got out her phone again, searched for the name she was looking for; PRINCIPAL. "Hello? Mr. Johnson? Yeah hi, this is Cindy Vortex. Listen, I'm sorry to call you on your personal phone and I know this is short notice but can you put me in the school talent show?"

**A/N: I'm sorry that was shorter than I intended, but there only so much intelligent things Carl can say and I didn't feel like writing him ranting about llamas. Review please.**


	6. Five of Us

**A/N: So Cindy's actually singing this she changed some words, the song is italicized and the bold are the lyrics she changed. Whatever is not italicized is the actual story, I apologize it's kind of jumbled up so bear with me.**

White Houses

Ch. 6

"Thank you Taylor for that beautiful karate demonstration," The unknown announcer guy stated, "Next up is Cindy Vortex," Jimmy, sitting in the middle of the auditorium, kept his eyes locked to the floor. Sheen and Carl, who were sitting together but leaning away from each other, weren't paying attention but they looked up slightly as they saw Cindy enter the stage. "She will be singing White Houses by Vanessa Carlton." Now Jimmy looked up, he knew that song very well his mother would not stop singing it and now reluctantly he knew all the words by heart.

Cindy continued shuffling onstage sure that everyone could see her shaking. She handed the note sheet to the person who was playing the piano for all the singing acts, which happen to be Libby. Without looking into her eyes Libby emotionlessly took the sheet from Cindy and set it up.

Walking up to the microphone, Cindy grazed the crowd with her eyes to trying to find Jimmy, Sheen and Carl. When she found them her heart sunk when she realized Jimmy was not sitting near his two best friends Carl and Sheen, because she knew it was her fault. She took one deep breath, took the mike from the stand and finally opened her mouth to begin.

_Crashed on the floor when __**he**__ moved in,  
This little bungalow with some strange new friends,  
__**We always fight to see who'll win,**_

Jimmy looked up at Cindy with curiosity when he realized that these weren't the real words. Libby, who had the real lyrics on the note sheet noticed it too but didn't think much of it.

_We promise each other it's 'til the end,  
Now we're spinning empty bottles,  
It's the five of us,  
With pretty eyed boys girls die to trust,  
I can't resist the day,  
No, I can't resist the day,_

_**Libby **__**jams**__ out and it's no pose,_

The four friends' eyes widen as they heard Libby's name, that's when they all realized she wasn't just singing a song, she was actually trying to say something. So they all listened intensely to the lyrics.

_'Cause when she dances she goes and goes,_

Libby and Cindy turned around slightly for a second to catch a quick glimpse at each other.

_**Smoothies**__ through the nose on an inside joke,  
And I'm so excited, I haven't spoken,_

Cindy turned to look at Libby for the next few lines.

_And she's so pretty, and she's so sure,  
__**Thought I was **__more clever than a girl like her,_

Libby noticed her looking but didn't look back.

_Summer's all in bloom,  
Summer is ending soon,_

It's alright and it's nice not to be so alone,  
But I hold on to _**my **__secrets in white houses,_

Cindy subconsciously began staring at Jimmy as she sang.

_Maybe I'm a little bit over my head,  
I come undone at the things he said,  
And he's so __**smart**__ in his bright red shirt,_

Jimmy looked down at his shirt and raised his eyebrows, 'what is she saying?'

_We were all in love and we all got hurt,  
I sneak into his __**rocket's **__cracked leather seat,  
The smell of __**fun fuel **__in the summer heat,  
Boy, we're going way too fast,  
It's all too sweet to last,_

It's alright,  
And I put myself in his hands,

Cindy realized she was staring to much at Jimmy and began looking around the crowd again.

_But I hold on to __**my**__ secrets in white houses,  
Love, or something ignites in my veins,  
And I pray it never fades in white houses,_

My first

_**love**__, hard to explain,  
Rush of blood, oh, and a little bit of pain,  
__**Dreamt of him today**__, it's more common than you think,  
He's my first mistake,_

Cindy looked directly at Jimmy as she sang "mistake", and Jimmy began to wonder, 'Does she mean she regrets losing me? Is this an apology?' Jimmy and Cindy continued to look at each other for the entire instrumental break.

_Maybe you were all faster than me,  
We gave each other up so easily,_

All five felt a twinge of guilt with the truth from the last line.

_These silly little wounds will never mend,  
I feel so far from where I've been,  
So __**we**__ go, and I __**hope we'll**__ be back here again,  
__**It's**__ gone as the day is fading on white houses,  
I lied, wrote my injuries all in the dust,  
In my heart is the five of us,_

The four smiled and silently agreed to that line.

_In white houses,_

Libby felt a tear fall on the piano, Jimmy and Cindy locked eyes and Carl and Sheen looked at each other and grabbed hands as Cindy continued singing.

_And you, maybe you'll remember me,_  
_What I gave is yours to keep,_  
_In white houses,_

_In white houses,_

_In white houses._

Cindy put the mike back on the stand, put her head down and quickly walked down the middle isle of the auditorium. She stopped when she noticed someone was standing in front on her, she looked up and saw Jimmy standing there. "You know, those aren't the real words." He said smoothly.

"Of course I know!" She said trying to replace her sadness with rage; still she felt her eyes tear up. "I changed them to-" Cindy had no idea what she was going to say next.

"To fit into your situation?" Jimmy continued.

"What makes you think I was singing about a real situation!"

"Bright red shirt?" He said pointing to his red atom shirt that he wore every day.

"That was actually part of the song Neutron!"

"Yet you didn't change it." Cindy felt like she was going to scream, or cry, whatever came first. Then Jimmy did something unexpected, he kissed her cheek, "You know Vanessa Carlton was right about one thing," He said sadly looking into her eyes, "'We gave each other up so easily.'" Cindy didn't now know what to say next so the was a few moments of silence. Jimmy looked behind Cindy, "And I think the name in the song was Jenny, not Libby." He gestured behind her.

Cindy turned around and faced Libby, she closed her eyes and let the waiting tears free, Libby opened her mouth to say something but Cindy beat her to it. "Libby I'm so sorry, this was all my fault, you have every reason to be mad at me! Everything you said was true, I should have listened to you, am so sorry I too you for granted, I didn't mean to I swear. I'm a horrible person, the worst friend in the world, please forgive me?" The words came out of Cindy so fast she wasn't sure if Libby caught them.

Libby came closer to her friend and hugged her saying the two simplest words, "Of course." Cindy sigh in relief and happiness at those simple words as she tightly hugged her friend, not wanting to let go of her again.

"Ahem!" Sheen coughed loudly. "I'm not a mathemagician*, but you said five of us and there's three of you and two of us." He said pointing to him and Carl.

"Yeah and that's," Carl paused to count his fingers. "Five!" Jimmy smiled at his two best friends and put his hands on their shoulders.

Cindy looked over at the three friends, "I'm sorry guys," She said rubbing the back of her neck, "I guess I never really noticed how much you guys meant to my life. Forgive me?" She pleaded knowing she would hate herself later. All three of them nodded as to say 'yes'.

"Awwww! Group hug! Carl announced.

"Wait! Wai-" Cindy tried to protest but was stuck in the middle of the four when they interlocked arms for a hug.

"Awwwwww!" The crowd cheered.

"This year's talent show trophy goes to Cindy Vortex doing a wonderful job singing and putting on a fabulous show!" The principal announced. "And for showing us how important friendship is!" Everybody clapped as Cindy accepted her award and walked out of the auditorium with her four best friends.

THE END

***Sheen's way of saying mathematician.**

**A/N: Aww what a fluffy ending! Hope you enjoyed this, the idea was in my head for a while now and I finally wrote it! Yay! Anyways R&R I need feedback on my first real story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or White Houses by Vanessa Carlton.**


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